Voices and influences
Albert Barnes
The Philadelphia pastor who rose at four every morning to write Bible notes for his own Sunday school, and sold a million volumes of them.
Summary
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1798 to 1870.
- Quoted here most in Isaiah: 746 of 8,265.
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Albert Barnes
- Lived
- 1798 to 1870
- Tradition
- Presbyterian
5 of 8,265 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Albert Barnes died in 1870 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts - Interpreters have differed in regard to the connection of this verse with the preceding.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
It is evident, I think, that it is properly connected with the subject of pardon; and the sense must be, that the plans and purposes of God in regard to forgiveness are as far above those of people as the heavens are higher than the earth, Isa 55:
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. BSB
He hath shewed thee - Micah does not tell them now, as for the first time; which would have excused them. He says, “He hath shewed thee;” He, about whose mind and will and pleasure they were pretending to enquire, the Lord their God.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
He had shewn it to them. The law was full of it. He shewed it to them, when He said, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord, thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deu 10:12-13. They had asked, “with what outward thing shall I come before the Lord;” the prophet tells them, “what thing is good,” the inward man of the heart, righteousness, love, humility. And what doth the Lord require (search, seek) of thee? - The very word implies an earnest search within. He would say (Rup.), “Trouble not thyself as to any of these things, burnt-offerings, rams, calves, without thee. For God seeketh not thine, but thee; not thy substance, but thy spirit; not ram or goat, but thy heart.” : “Thou askest, what thou shouldest offer for thee? Other thyself. For what else doth the Lord seek of thee, but thee? Because, of all earthly creatures, He hath made nothing better than thee, He seeketh thyself from thyself, because thou hadst lost thyself.” To do judgment - are chiefly all acts of equity; “to love mercy,” all deeds of love. Judgment, is what right requires; mercy, what love. Yet, secondarily, “to do judgment” is to pass righteous judgments in all cases; and so, as to others, “judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” Joh 7:24; and as to one’s self also. Judge equitably and kindly of others, humbly of thyself. […]
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? BSB
(Compare Exo. 39:1-31.) Moses is now commanded to commit all that pertains to the offerings made to the Lord in the sanctuary to the exclusive charge of the members of a single family, who were to hold their office from generation to generation.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
In the patriarchal times, the external rites of worship had generally been conducted by the head of the tribe or family, in accordance with the principle involved in the dedication of the firstborn Exo 13:2; Num 3:12-
Exodus 28:1 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. BSB
The leper was to carry about with him the usual signs of mourning for the dead. Compare Lev 10:6 and margin reference.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
The leper was a living parable in the world of the sin of which death was the wages; not the less so because his suffering might have been in no degree due to his own personal deserts: he bore about with him at once the deadly fruit and the symbol of the sin of his race. Exo 20:
Leviticus 13:45 A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ BSB
Chambers - (Margin, floors). Rather, a lean-to, which completely surrounded three sides of the building, the north, the west, and the south.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
1 Kings 6:5 Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Albert Barnes was born at Rome, New York, on December 1, 1798. He was headed for the law. At Hamilton College he was converted, changed direction, and went to Princeton Theological Seminary instead, graduating in 1824. His first pastorate was Morristown, New Jersey, from 1825 to 1830. In 1830 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he preached until 1867 — thirty-seven years in one pulpit. The habit that made him famous was the alarm clock. Barnes rose at four every morning and wrote until nine, before the day's pastoral work began. What he wrote were notes on the Bible for his own Sunday school teachers and Bible class — plain explanations, verse by verse, aimed at people with no Greek and no library. He published them, beginning with the Gospels in 1832. They did not stop. Notes, Explanatory and Practical eventually covered the whole New Testament and much of the Old — Job, the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel — and sold more than a million volumes in his lifetime, an astonishing number for the period. Generations of American laymen learned their Bible out of Barnes. He was also tried for heresy. His 1829 sermon The Way of Salvation, and then his notes on Romans in 1835, were charged with departing from the Westminster Confession on original sin and the atonement; Barnes taught that Christ's death was a provision made for all rather than a payment restricted in advance to the elect. The Presbytery of Philadelphia suspended him from the ministry in 1835, and the General Assembly reversed the suspension in 1836. He was acquitted, but the fight was one of the fuses of the Old School–New School division that split the American Presbyterian church in 1837. Barnes stood on the New School side. He fought slavery hard and early. An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery (1846) took up the biblical arguments the Southern churches used and dismantled them one at a time; The Church and Slavery followed in 1857. The books were read widely in the North during the years the country came apart. His eyesight failed badly in later life, and he kept working with help. He resigned the pulpit in 1867 and died in Philadelphia on December 24, 1870, at seventy-two. What he left is unusual for a scholar. Not a monument — a tool. A working pastor's commentary, written before breakfast for people who had no one else to explain the text, still in print and still free more than a century and a half later. Sources: Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the New Testament and An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery; the published minutes of the Presbyterian General Assembly, 1835–1837; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church; George Marsden, The Evangelical Mind and the New School Presbyterian Experience.
8,265 quotations across 66 books
Where this voice is quoted
And He said to them, “Come with Me privately to a solitary place, and let us rest for a while.”
“A desert place - A retired place, across the sea from Capernaum, where they would be free from interruption. There were many coming and going - Coming to be healed and retiring, or coming to hear him preach.”
So they went away in a boat by themselves to a solitary place.
“See this narrative explained in the notes at Mat 14:13-21. Mar 6:32 By ship - By a boat or a small vessel. Privately - Without making their plan known. They intended to go privately.”
for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
“See this passage explained in the notes at Mat 14:22-36. Mar 6:52 They considered not the miracle of the loaves - They did not remember or call to mind the “power” which Jesus had shown in feeding the five thousand by a miracle, and that…”
Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
“Departing from the coasts - The country or regions of Tyre. Came unto the sea of Galilee - The Sea of Tiberias. See the notes at Mat 4:18. Decapolis - See the notes at Mat 4:25.”
So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
“And he took him aside from the multitude - Why this was done we have no means of information. It might have been to conceal from the multitude everything respecting the “manner” of cure, in order that none might attempt to cure in a similar…”
The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
“Beyond measure - Exceedingly; very much. In the Greek, “Very abundantly.” He hath done all things well - All things in a remarkable manner; or, he has perfectly effected the cure of this deaf-mute.”
Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
“See this passage explained in Mat 16:1-12. Mar 8:12 Sighed deeply in his spirit - His heart was deeply affected at their wickedness and hypocrisy. The word “spirit” here is taken as the seat of the emotions, passions, affections.”
So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him.
“Led him out of the town - Why this was done the sacred writers have not told us. It might have been to avoid the collecting of a multitude, and thus to have escaped the designs of the Pharisees who were attempting to take his…”
Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.
“Every man clearly - Could see their form and features. His sight was completely restored. Though our Lord did not by this, probably, “intend” to teach any lesson in regard to the way in which the mind of a sinner is enlightened, yet it affords…”
Then Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God arrive with power.”
“Verily I say ... - See the notes at Mat 16:28. This verse properly belongs to the preceding chapter and the preceding discourse.”
because He was teaching His disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.
“See the notes at Mat 17:22-23. Mar 9:31 Is delivered - Is given to men to make an atonement by his sufferings and death, and will in due time be taken and killed.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who performs a miracle in My name can turn around and speak evil of Me.
“Forbid him not - Do not prevent his doing good. If he can work a miracle in my name, it is sufficient proof of attachment to me, and he should not be prevented.”
Indeed, if anyone gives you even a cup of water because you bear the name of Christ, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.
“Whosoever shall give you a cup ... - How easy it is to be a Christian! What is easier than to give a cup of cold water to a thirsty disciple of Jesus!”
where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’
“See the notes at Mat 18:7-9. Millstone. See Mat 18:6. Mar 9:44-46 Their worm - This figure is taken from Isa 66:24. See the notes at that passage. In describing the great prosperity.”
And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
“See this question about divorce explained in the notes at Mat 19:1-12. Mar 10:12 And if a woman shall put away her husband - It would seem, from this, that a woman, among the Jews, had the power of separating herself from her husband, yet…”
Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
“See the notes at Mat 19:13-15. Mar 10:13 Should touch them - That is, should lay his hands on them, and pray for them, and bless them. Compare Mat 19:13.”
As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up and knelt before Him. “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“See this passage illustrated in the notes at Mat 19:16-30. Mar 10:17 Gone forth - From the place where he had been teaching. Into the way - Into the road or path on his journey.”
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two of His disciples
“See this passage illustrated in the notes at Mat. 21:1-16. Mar 11:4 Two ways met - A crossroads. A public place, probably near the center of the village. Mar 11:5 What do ye, loosing the colt? - Or, why do ye do this?”
Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
“See this passage explained in the notes at Mat 21:18-22. Mar 11:11 Into the temple - Not into the edifice properly called “the temple,” but into the “courts” which surrounded the principal edifice.”
When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
“See this passage fully explained in the notes at Mat 22:23-33. Mar 12:25 Are as the angels - That is, as the angels in respect to connections and relations.”
David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?” And the large crowd listened to Him with delight.
“See the notes at Mat 22:41-46. Mar 12:37 The common people heard him gladly - The success of the Saviour in his preaching was chiefly among the common or the poorer class of people.”
In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces,
“In his doctrine - In his “teaching,” for so it should be rendered. Beware of the scribes - Be on your guard. Be cautious about hearing them or following them. Scribes - The learned men of the Jewish nation.”
They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
“Which devour widows’ houses - Which devour the families of widows, or the means of supporting their families. This they did under pretence of counseling them in the knowledge of the law and in the management of their estates.”
As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.
“Sat over against - Opposite to, in full sight of. The treasury - This was in the court of the women. See the notes at Mat 21:12.”
Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius.
“Two mites - The word translated “mite” denotes a small coin made of brass - the smallest in use among the Jews. The precise value cannot now be easily estimated.”